Acting is the activity of performing in plays or films. It’s about living an alternative reality. It lets you explore all kinds of possibilities of what you could be. Just being your own self can be boring sometimes, and acting gives you an opportunity to be someone else for a while. It is voluntarily entering the psyche (心灵) of another personality and thinking according to a different set of values and constraints (约束). It lets you explore many parts of you, which you thought never existed. It lets you deeply explore what it means to be a human being.

One of the best ways to begin your own acting studies is to start reading some good plays. Choose your favorite role from one of your favorite plays and prepare to act it out in front of the audience. To learn to act, you must act. Here are some tips on how to become an actor with no experience:

To play a role, you must understand the character that you are going to play with open arms. Understand the plot of the play, as well as the psyche of your character. Understand the conditions in which your character lives. Try to understand why your character behaves in that way. So you must learn the lines or dialogues thoroughly and explore the thought behind every sentence. This will help you picture the circumstances in which the character finds himself/herself. Some actors go as far as “living” as that person for a while, to understand him or her. The idea is to go as close as possible to being that person. More importantly, only through practice can you get close to actually being that person. So seize every chance and perform as frequently as you can. This will help you develop confidence and overcome stage fright.

As a student of acting, you need to always be a sponge (海绵), ready to absorb, learn, and observe the performances of great actors, to learn the slight differences of the art. While you watch movies, plays and any other performance, study the differences of a role played by any actors, especially the masters. By just keeping your eyes open, you can pick up a lot of things.

Why do you want to act? Is it for money, fame, or genuine love for the art? Would you do it if you were not paid for it? If the answer and y our motivation is love for acting, you are sure to eventually succeed.

“Image is everything．” An entire industry has been built upon the assumption that image is everything, but when it comes down to it, an appealing image is not enough．If there is no substance（事实） behind the image, the product, service or person will fail eventually．

First of all, one should consider how important image is in the selling of products and services．Advertising agencies have raised the art of creating an image to a state of near perfection．Public concept of that product or service is certainly managed by the images created by the advertising agencies．But if the product or service does not live up to the image that was created, the customer will be very dissatisfied and possibly ask for their money back．For example, the Arthur Andersen accounting firm had spent decades building up an image of trustworthiness．But the recent scandal（丑闻）showed that behind that image, it cheated in business practices．Despite the previous positive image, the firm is being accused of criminal actions and it will probably not survive as a business unit．Although the image had been nearly perfect, the reality behind the image has led to the downfall of the world famous accounting firm．

Similarly, personal advisers can build up a public image for politicians and movie stars．Putting out positive news releases, making sure that only the best photographs are published, and ensuring that the person is seen in all the right places can build up a very positive image in the view of the general commons．But once again, history is filled with examples of both politicians and movie stars that fell from grace like the story of the Hollywood actor giving in to the pressures of fame and fortune．With people, just as with products and services, image is certainly important, but without positive substance behind the image, failure is close．

To summarize, it is clear that an appealing image is extremely important to success, whether that image is related to selling a product or service or to the “selling” of a person．But image is only half of the equation．What lies behind that image is every bit as important as the image itself —— the person or product must deliver on that image or there is little chance for long-term success．

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Happy Graduation, Seniors! Congratulations! What’s next? Below is some sociologically-inspired, out-of-the-box advice on work, love, family, friendship, and the meaning of life. For new grads from the two of us!

Don’t Worry About Making Your Dreams Come True

College graduates are often told: “follow your passion,” do “what you love,” what you were “meant to do,” or “make your dreams come true.” Two-thirds think they’re going find a job that allows them to change the world, half within five years. Yikes.

This sets young people up to fail. The truth is that most of us will not be employed in a job that is both our lifelong passion and a world-changer; that’s just not the way our global economy is. So it’s ok to set your sights just a tad below occupational ecstasy. Just find a job that you like. Use that job to help you have a full life with lots of good things and pleasure and helping others and stuff. A great life is pretty good, even if it’s not perfect.

 Make Friends

Americans emphasize finding Mr. or Ms. Right and getting married. We think this will bring us happiness. In fact, however, both psychological well-being and health are more strongly related to friendship. If you have good friends, you’ll be less likely to get the common cold, less likely to die from cancer, recover better from the loss of a spouse, and keep your mental acuity as you age. You’ll also be able to face life’s challenges, be less likely to feed depressed, and be happier in old age.   

Having happy friends increases your chance of being happy as much as an extra $ 145,500 a year does. So, make friends!

 Don’t Worry about Being Single

Single people, especially women, are stigmatized in our society: we’re all familiar with the image of a sad, lonely woman eating ice cream with her cats in her pajamas on Saturday night. But about 45% of U.S. adults aren’t married and around 1 in 7 lives alone.

This might be you. Research shows that young people’s expectations about their marital status (e.g., the desire to be married by 30 and have kids by 32) have little or no relationship to what actually happens to people. So, go with the flow.

And, if you’re single, you’re in good company. Single people spend more time with friends, volunteer more, and are more involved in their communities than married people. Never-married and divorced women are happier, on average, than married women. So, don’t buy into the myth of the miserable singleton.

 Don’t Take Your Ideas about Gender and Marriage Too Seriously

If you do get married, be both principled and flexible. Relationship satisfaction, financial security, and happy kids are more strongly related to the ability to adapt in the face of life’s challenges than any particular way of organizing families. The most functional families are ones that can bend. So partnering with someone who thinks that one partner should support their families and the other should take responsibility for the house and children is a recipe for disaster. So is being equally rigid about non-traditional divisions of labor. It’s okay to have ideas about how to organize your family – and, for the love of god, please talk about both your ideals and fallback positions on this – but your best bet for happiness is to be flexible.

 Think Hard About Whether to Buy a House

Our current image of the American Dream revolves around homeownership, and buying a home is often considered as a stage on the path to full-fledge adulthood. But the ideal of universal home ownership was born in the 1950s. It’s a rather new idea.

With such a short history, it’s funny that people often insist that buying a house is a fool-proof investment and the best way to secure retirement. In fact, buying a house may not be the best choice for you. The mortgage may be less than rent, but there are also taxes, insurance, and the increasingly common Home Owners Association (HOA) fees. You may someday sell the house for more than you bought it but, if you paid interest on a mortgage, you also paid far more than the sale price. You have freedom from a landlord, but may discover your HOA is just as controlling, or worse. And then there’s the headache: renting makes you avoid the stress of being responsible for repairs. It also offers a freedom of movement that you might cherish.

So, think carefully about whether buying or renting is a better fit for your finances, lifestyle, and future goals. This New York Times rent vs. buy calculator is a good start.

While there is no widely accepted definition of MOOCs, their key features are open access：they are currently free to participants, no entry qualifications are required, they support an unlimited number of participants and as yet, very few include any form of accreditation (认证).

       Currently offered by some famous universities, MOOCs are attractive to people who do not have the financial resources to meet the growing costs of university education, or who do not have formal qualifications. They also allow participants to study at their own pace.

       The potential for MOOCs to deliver education is obviously vast—they could be considered as a huge step forwards in widening participation. They also have the potential to provide a unique window on universities that offer popular and valuable courses, they may attract some participants to register for formal fee-paying programmes at the same or other universities and are likely to promote new ways of on-line education.

       However, it is still very early days for MOOCs. The quality of the education provision is highly variable, with many courses offering only recordings of lectures, and delivery is particularly difficult in some special fields that require practical classes, research projects or extensive library access. Besides, wider engagement with participants re quires very considerable resource. Even limited feedback or examination becomes a major task if there are several thousand students in the class.

       Considering the challenges, some people argue MOOCs will soon evaporate (蒸发). But they certainly provide good opportunity for widening higher education, are a means of raising awareness of universities to audiences of tens or hundreds of thousands, and are well worthy of serious consideration. 

How to Build Confidence

Everybody in this world wants to be rich and successful. But, the big question is HOW? How can you turn yourself into a popular personality?

Well, you need to have confidence. Confidence is the feeling of certainty and trusting in one’s own ability. Start your journey to become successful by following these six confidence-building steps.

Recognize what makes you feel inferior-- Let’s accept the fact that no one in this world is perfect. Everyone has some shortcomings and it is natural. So, if there is something that makes you feel ashamed of yourself just make a note of it. Instead of being upset over your shortcomings, you need to figure out ways to overcome them.

Dress smartly and look more attractive-- Yes, you are right that a person should be beautiful at heart but you ought to work on your looks too. You might have not realized but dressing up nicely can increase your confidence. Work hard to improve your looks and you will definitely notice a positive change in your personally.

Don’t worry about what others say-- Those who think about others car never succeed in their lives. So, if you really wish to increase your confidence levels, stop thinking about the world right away. Have faith in your capabilities and show the world that you are a leader. And just in case you are afraid of criticism, your dream of becoming successful person will always remain a dream.

Stay happy– Happiness plays an important part in a successful life. So, try to find out what makes you happy and keep yourself involved in those activities only.

Be a curious learner-- Learning is part of our life. It is a continuous process which lasts till the last breath. Knowledge not only makes you superior but enriches your personality altogether.

Express yourself-- There are many people who don’t express their feelings and opinions at all just because they are afraid of being laughed at. Well, don’t be afraid and express yourself wherever possible, it will make people realize your presence and you may get the response. So, the next time you have something on your mind, say it aloud.

Self esteem and confidence are some of the most important things you need to be successful in life.

A

   John snow was a famous doctor in London-so expert, indeed, that he attended queen Victora as her personal physician.  ____71____This was the deadly disease of its day. Neither its cause nor its cure was understood.________72____

John snow wanted to face the challenge and solve this problem. He knew that cholera would never be controlled until its cause was found.

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